Applying the Five Common Topics to Bible Study: Go Deeper!

Using the Five Common Topics of Classical education can help your Bible study go deeper this year!

Loaded with a stack of books and ideas of how much my students would simply swoon with delight over my lesson plan, I pushed open the door of my first classroom. I soon realized the students weren’t interested in what or how much their teacher knew. Teaching students HOW to learn is an entirely different game than simply trying to “fill their bucket” with your own knowledge.

I had to “reverse engineer” my knowledge to share my skills set with my students. After becoming a homeschool mom, I see how this classroom practice had a name and reliable “tools,” too! Wiser minds than mine had for centuries called this idea of teaching students HOW to learn vs WHAT to learn: Classical Education.

Now, 19 years later, with a lot of teaching and homeschooling practice, I have learned how much deeper I am able to study a topic because of classical education, and the Five Common Topics. I’ve also learned how to go deeper into my faith, by applying the Five Common Topics to Bible Study.

Not only have I found that it works for me, but also for my family and my students.

What ARE the Five Common Topics?

In a nutshell the Five Common Topics are:

Definition – Make sure you know the definition of the word and which definition is being used in what you’re reading. (Example: If you use the word “factor” do you mean the cause of something or a number used in an arithmetic problem?).

Comparison – Compare similarities and differences, between two terms, characters, etc. Also you can compare by degree – to what extent are they the same/different?

Circumstance – This one can be trickier. Here we think about the immediate setting of the character or text. Then, we think about what might be happening outside that setting. Next, we go broader into the world or time setting. (For example:Think about Mary and what’s happening in her village when people find out she’s pregnant, then Elisabeth several towns away, then Jerusalem, then the Roman Empire…)

Relationship – Here we think about cause-and-effect. What happened before? What would happen if? Or why did something happen? How are events or people related to each other?

Testimony – Finally, we think about who is speaking and whether we should listen to them. Are they an authority on the topic? Who else has something to say on this topic? What do we know? Where did we get our information? Testimony can come from people, books, nature/observation, and God!

Bible Study Journal using the Five Common Topics

The Five Common Topics and Bible Study

Each week, I lead a short devotional in my CC Challenge class using the Five Common Topics. The conversational nature of this practice allows the students to hear the Word of God and lets their hearts be touched. There’s also the “iron sharpens iron” aspect to this devotional style, as we learn from one another.

Applying the Five Common Topic questions to our Bible study gives us different ways of looking at and thinking about what God is saying. I’ve been blessed to listen to my students use their own Bible knowledge to explore a passage or make connections to other passages.

Devo Journal, applying the Five Common topics to bible study

Using the five common topics above we follow these steps:

READ the passage
SELECT keywords/terms from the passage. This might include words the student doesn’t know and needs to add to their vocabulary.
DEFINE these words/terms. Not only are we defining words we don’t know, but also we are defining what that word means in the context of the verse, to avoid ambiguity.
Pick two terms and COMPARE them. Are they similar or different? Sometimes, we compare one term from this passage with the same term in a different passage. This is called “cross-referencing”.
What is the CIRCUMSTANCE of this passage? Who is it about? Where are they? What is happening to them right now in their life? What is happening elsewhere in their world?
Is there any cause-and-effect RELATIONSHIP implied or directly stated in the passage? What happened just before this? What might happen after? What would happen if the subject of the passage does or doesn’t do as commanded? For personal application, what if I do not obey the commands/instructions of God’s Word in this passage?
We always consider the TESTIMONY of the passage. Who is writing? What is their authority? Can we trust them? (Though God is always the final authority when it comes to Scripture, we also are considering whether the person being written ABOUT is truthful – for example, obviously we do not rely on the words of the serpent in Genesis when he tempts Eve! He is NOT a reliable authority!). We might also consider what other scholars or pastors have said or written about this passage. Do we know someone who lives/has lived out this truth? Where do we see evidence of this truth shown in our daily life?

To help my students, I sometimes have them draw or write notes on the board or in their “Brain Books” as we go through this process.

For instance, in the Circumstance discussion, we might draw a “Circumstance Wheel” to show what is directly happening to the main subject, relative to the circumstances of things a bit farther out in location or time.

In Comparison, we often draw a “Both Have/Are/Do” chart to note various similarities and differences. For Relationship, a Topic Wheel helps us make connections between different topics, terms, subjects, ideas, passages, etc.

The Five Common Topics for Bible Study Devo Notes Journal

After working with my students for a semester, I created journal pages for this type of Bible study that could be used with ANY passage. Then, students could jump in wherever they are in their reading. My Devo Notes Journals contain these graphic organizers using the Five Common Topics.

With practice, these Common Topics tools get easier and easier to use! And now my Classical Devo Notes journals are available for anyone who wants to apply the Five Common Topics to their own Bible study, teen or adult.

Devo Journal for Bible Study using the Five Common Topics

These journals are not “CC” endorsed, nor are they used as part of their curriculum. They are, in fact, NOT curriculum dependent! Anyone can use these for their own personal Bible study! For CC families and directors, they are designed to fit nicely with the 30 weeks of Classical Conversations Challenge level classes. One idea for students is to do one page a day during the 4 at-home days, then bring their study thoughts into class for discussion.

Or, you can complete all four pages, every day, for a more intensive 1-month study. It is up to you how you use this journal for classroom or personal Bible study!

The goal is to GROW by digging deeper into the Word of God. Using the Five Common Topics for Bible study helps us to slow down and see how the scriptures truly are filled with “the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Romans 11:33).

You can get your copy on Amazon!